There are a number of advantages associated with direct shipping from a product fulfillment center to a customer. Such advantages include, for example, enabling the retailer, e-tailer, or other party selling the products to maintain a smaller stock. Another advantage involves reducing the overhead for the seller, as stockroom/storage space can be reduced by virtue of the fewer products received for sell-through. Costs associated with logistical operations also may be saved, e.g., as products can be shipped directly from fulfillment centers to purchasers. The seller also may not have to predict or guess how many products might possibly sell in a given time period, thereby reducing risks associated with over- and under-ordering. These savings can be significant when physically large items and/or large quantities of items are implicated. Such savings may be at least partially passed on to the consumer, and/or retained for the seller and/or manufacturer. These advantages have helped give rise to pure e-tailers, and have made it advantageous for many more traditional retailers to set up similar online presences or storefronts. Amazon.com, for example, is an example of a particularly successful e-tailer that maintains very low actual inventory and has very good supply chain integration, sometimes enabling direct (or at least more direct) shipping from a product fulfillment center to a purchaser.
While e-tailers, web-based storefronts, online portals, and the like have become very popular, many people still like the experience of going to a physical brick-and-mortar store. This experience for some is important, because they can actually touch the product before deciding whether to purchase it, view products side-by-side, and/or interact with a “real live person” (e.g., a sales clerk, etc.) to ask questions, get feedback or receive recommendations, etc. Moreover, some people still do not feel that online transactions are safe, which may lead them to favor brick-and-mortar stores over online purchases.
It therefore will be appreciated that there is a tension between operating a brick-and-mortar store and “virtualizing” practically everything about the in-store sales experience. Thus, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for brick-and-mortar stores to gain at least some of the benefits associated with a more online sales approach.
One aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to an in-store kiosk that enables a customer to place an order for a product to be delivered from a product fulfillment location to a place of that person's choosing (e.g., home, office, etc.), without having to receive and/or process that product through the store.
Another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to techniques for providing proof-of-purchase for in-store electronic purchases (e.g., through a kiosk as noted above), but without disrupting the in-store location's normal point-of-sale (POS) process.
Still another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to coordinating the sharing of data between the kiosk, the in-store location's normal POS operations, and the manufacturer's product fulfillment center.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, techniques are provided for the detection of order numbers in a data feed from a store to an electronic registration (ER) or other centralized system, e.g., in a manner that that helps differentiate order numbers from serial numbers. An order number mask may be seamlessly integrated into a POS system, e.g., to help disguise an order number as a serial number that is created in connection with its own mask. These different numbers may be identified and separated, e.g., using the masked combination of UPC and order number, or the like. Once an order number has been detected in the POS data feed, it may be separated out and recognized as an order number. It then may be determined that a corresponding serial number is missing, which may cause a communication to be sent to the manufacturer that payment for a UPC/order number combination is made and that a product should be shipped. Products therefore are able flow through the retailer's system without change, and proof-of-purchase capabilities are provided even when ordering and purchasing activities are separated from each other.
One advantage that becomes possible by using this technique is that a manufacturer, logistics provider, or other party, may be sent a confirmation of payment of an “order,” rather than a “serial number.” Order numbers are allowed to flow through the retailer POS system undetected, and to be detected at a downstream location for these and/or other purposes.
In certain exemplary embodiments, a manufacturer's kiosk will be placed in a store, and consumers will be able to order directly from the kiosk, with direct shipment from the manufacturer to places of the consumers' choosing. An order confirmation will be generated by the kiosk, and the consumer will then proceed to the stores register for purchase. The order confirmation may serve as the product and may include a UPC and “serial number” for scanning. This procedure advantageously will not interrupt standard operating procedures at the store, and data transmission from the store to an electronic registration (ER) service provide may remain constant. However, the “serial number” generated by the kiosk may instead be an appropriately masked order number instead of a unique identifier for the item to be purchased. The ER system may understand that this is the case, and implement a transmission data feed to the manufacturer. When the manufacturer fulfills the order, a real product serial number (possibly together with the UPC and order number as serial number information) may be transmitted to the ER system for registration
According to certain exemplary embodiments, an order processing system is provided. A computer-based kiosk is provided to a point-of-sale location. The kiosk is configured to (a) enable consumers to order, but not purchase, products that are not stocked by the POS location, (b) generate order numbers for ordered products, with the order numbers being formatted in accordance with a first mask, and (c) generate, for a consumer who has ordered at least one product, an article including an order number and a product identifier for each said product being ordered. A computerized POS checkout system is provided to the POS location. An electronic registration system includes at least one processor and an ER database, with the ER system being configured to receive from the POS checkout system a data feed including unique identifiers of purchased products and create corresponding entries in the ER database. At least a portion of the unique identifiers is formatted in accordance with a second mask, the second mask being different from the first mask. The POS checkout system is configured to: process a generated article in order to complete a sale of each product ordered through the kiosk and associated with the article, and treat the order number and the product identifier pair of each said product associated with the generated article as if they together were a unique identifier of the corresponding ordered product and include this information in the data feed. The ER system is further configured to: analyze the data feed in order to separate out order number and product identifier pairs, from unique identifiers, and send a first message indicating that payment has been received to a supplier of each product being ordered in a case that a corresponding order number and identifier pair is detected in the data feed.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, an electronic registration system is provided. Processing resources include at least one processor and a memory. An ER database is configured to store records of purchased products. A return/warranty qualification module, under control of the processing resources and in response to a return/warranty eligibility inquiry, is configured to issue a return/warranty qualification. A connection to a store's checkout system is provided. The ER system is configured to receive, via the connection, a data feed from the checkout system, with the data feed being formatted to include unique identifiers of purchased products, as well as pairs of order numbers and product identifiers for products ordered from, but not delivered by, the store. Program logic, under the control of the processing resources and for each entry in the data feed, is configured to: create a corresponding record in the ER database, determine whether the entry is either a unique identifier of a purchased product, or an order number/product identifier pair for a product ordered at the store, and transmit an electronic message to a supplier of the product ordered at the store indicating that payment has been received for that product ordered at the store, when the program logic determines that the entry is an order number/product identifier pair.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, a method of processing an order is provided. An order for a product that is sold but not stocked by the store is received, via a computer provided to a brick-and-mortar store, but the computer is prevented from actually selling the ordered product. An order number for the ordered product is generated, using the computer, with the order number being formatted in accordance with a first mask. A receipt for the ordered product is printed, with the receipt including the order number and a product identifier for the ordered product. The receipt is processable by a checkout system of the store so as to complete a sale of the ordered product, with the order number being treated as if it were a serial number formatted in accordance with a second mask that is different from the first mask. A centralized computer system is configured to (a) receive from the checkout system a data feed including entries for both unique identifiers of purchased products and order numbers for ordered products, and (b) generate messages confirming to one or more suppliers, as appropriate, that payment has been received for entries in the data stream that correspond to ordered products.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, a method of processing orders for products placed at, but not delivered by, a retailer is provided. A data feed including unique identifiers of purchased products, as well as pairs of order numbers and product identifiers for products ordered from, but not delivered by, the store is received from a point-of-sale system of the retailer and over a computer network connection. For each entry in the data feed, and in connection with at least one processor: a corresponding record is created in an electronic registration database; it is determined whether the entry is either a unique identifier of a purchased product, or an order number/product identifier pair for a product ordered at the retailer; and an electronic message is transmitted to a supplier of the product ordered at the store indicating that payment has been received for that product ordered at the store, when it is determined that the entry is an order number/product identifier pair. An indication that a product has been or is being shipped, along with a serial number of the product that has been or is being shipped, is received from the supplier, and the corresponding record in the ER database is updated with the serial number.
Programmed logic circuitry may include, for example, any suitable combination of hardware, software, firmware, and/or the like. A computer-readable storage medium may include, for example, a disk, CD-ROM, hard drive, and/or the like, and thus may be transitory or non-transitory in nature. Instructions may be stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that, when executed (e.g., by a processor of one or more computers or computer systems), perform the methods described herein.
The exemplary embodiments, aspect, and advantages described herein may be used in any suitable combination or sub-combination such that it is possible to obtain yet further embodiments of the instant invention.